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National Theatre Live: Prima Facie · 2022 — 第 1 / 22 章 · 3'00" · C1

Ensler Lets the Witness Talk, Explained：play it cool

She waits through the charged quiet, then takes the witness looking almost lost. Pages turn, questions repeat, and she thanks him for clarifying. The real aim sits in one order to herself: "Let the witness talk, over talk."

あらすじ

In a courtroom, a barrister rises after an application is granted. The judge looks at her, and one line follows: "It's your witness, Ms Ensler." She buttons her jacket and cross-examines as if she is slow. She flicks through pages, repeats questions, and lets the witness relax. He talks too much, contradicts himself, and keeps explaining while she nods.

CourtroomInterrogationsConfrontingExplainingC1slowbritishClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

the calm beforewon a pointplay it coollost my way

00:00 / 03:00
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  21. ❝ 独白Orders to play it cool10 行練習ページ ↗
  47. ❝ 独白The nod that digs8 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

play it cool

stay calm and look unfazed

With the court waiting, she snaps play it cool at herself before any calm voice comes out.

Play it cool when they praise the draft; celebrate after you leave the room.

このシーンの他の表現

  • the calm before

    the quiet just before action

  • won a point

    took one small victory

  • lost my way

    lost, or off the thread

  • the likes of me

    people of my sort

  • clarify

    a fake invite to explain more

このシーンのメモ一覧

54 行のセリフに 30 件のメモ

表現 · C1on ten tracks at once

handling many lines at the same time not railway tracks; parallel lines of thought

Nerves taut, mind operating on ten tracks at once.
文法 · C1mind operating on ten tracks

absolute phrase: A noun plus -ing, with no is: her mind is already running many ways.

Nerves taut, mind operating on ten tracks at once.
表現 · C1tightly wound

tense and ready to spring wound here is the past of wind, not an injury

Blood pumping. Muscles tightly wound, waiting to spring. Waiting.
表現 · B2a measure of something

a test of what you can do

Careful. This is a measure of your skill set, the calm before.
表現 · C1the calm before

the quiet just before action

Still seated in the wait, she calls this held breath the calm before, an order not to move early.

Careful. This is a measure of your skill set, the calm before.
発音Your Honour

Treat Your Honour as one polite unit, with no fresh breath in the middle.

Instinct pushes me forward. 'Your Honour.'
表現 · B1on one's feet

standing up to speak

I am on my feet. Eyes zooming in on me.
表現 · B2win a point

took one small victory

The client looks stunned and likes the change without knowing a point has already been won.

He doesn't quite know that I've won a point, but he feels the shift, likes it.
文法 · C1but for me

contrast break: but for me is a contrast, in my view, not if not for me.

My client hates the witness, but for me, the witness is just the witness.
表現 · B2one's witness

the witness is yours to question not ownership; it is your turn to examine

'It's your witness, Ms Ensler.'
表現 · B2play it cool

stay calm and look unfazed

With the court waiting, she snaps play it cool at herself before any calm voice comes out.

Play it cool!
表現 · B2in the palm of one's hand

fully under your control the vowel is stretched on the page; it still means total control

Play it, it's yours. You're holding it in the pa-a-a-a-alm of your hand.
発音the pa-a-a-a-alm of

Hold the stretched vowel, then land softly on of.

Play it, it's yours. You're holding it in the pa-a-a-a-alm of your hand.
表現 · B1get mixed up

confused and tangled

Watch the witness's face, let him think I am getting mixed up,
文法 · B2that I'm a bit slow

continued clause: The that still completes think from the previous line.

that I'm a bit slow in understanding what happened.
表現 · B2flick through something

flip through quickly

Flick through some pages, let him think I have lost my way.
表現 · B2lose one's way

lost, or off the thread

She flicks pages so he will think she has lost her way, and a snicker tells her the act landed.

Flick through some pages, let him think I have lost my way.
スラング · C1snicker

a smothered scornful laugh — It marks a stifled sneer, too loaded for a neutral report.

Hear breathing. A snicker from the prosecution counsel.
表現 · C1in the dock

in the courtroom dock dock here is the accused's stand, not a harbour

My client shifts uncomfortably in the dock. Good.
表現 · C1the likes of someone

people of my sort

While the witness writes her off, she trusts this judge has seen the likes of her, and is not fooled by the blank face.

But this judge has seen me before, seen the likes of me.
表現 · C1embolden someone

makes him braver and less careful

This emboldens him.
表現 · C1overtalk

let someone talk past the useful point written as two words: talk more than he should

Let the witness talk, over talk. Let him 'clarify'. Good.
スラング · B2straight out of uni

fresh from university — Casual sneer about being new; keep it out of formal reviews.

'This one must be straight out of uni or something. She's not that good.'
スラング · B1or something

or whatever, roughly that — A shrug that skips precision; too vague for formal speech.

'This one must be straight out of uni or something. She's not that good.'
表現 · B2the upper hand

the advantage, as he sees it

Oh, ho-ho. This... It relaxes him. He's got the upper hand.
発音not careful, not afraid

Let the repeated nots run as one slope, without a stop on each.

He is now not careful, not afraid, no longer vigilant.
表現 · B2dig oneself in deeper

makes his own trouble worse

Nodding. I'm nodding, while he digs himself in deeper.
文法 · B2while he digs himself in deeper

while clause: while means at the same time here, not although.

Nodding. I'm nodding, while he digs himself in deeper.
表現 · B1a bit clearer

slightly easier to follow now

'OK,' I say, 'that's a bit clearer now, but...'
表現 · C1volunteer information

offers extra facts unasked

He volunteers more information.

「Ensler Lets the Witness Talk」を読み解く

What's really going on

The silence is the point. She treats it as "the calm before," the wait that measures her skill. The application is granted. Her client feels "the shift" without knowing she has "won a point." The room gives her a thrill, and she orders herself to "Play it cool." The clumsiness is staged. Pages get flicked. Questions get repeated. She lets him think she is "a bit slow," and she clocks the line she wanted: "This one doesn't seem to know what she's doing." His shoulders drop. A prosecution snicker and her client shifting in the dock both count as "Good." He is no longer vigilant. The judge stays expressionless, yet one line insists "this judge has seen me before, seen the likes of me." She lets him "clarify," then nods while "he digs himself in deeper." "that's a bit clearer now, but..." draws another fact, and he volunteers more. A finger rises to the prosecutor's forehead.

Theme

DeceptionShe pretends she has lost her way so the witness will stop watching his own words.
PowerLooking weak is how she takes the upper hand, and his extra talk becomes her point.

発音のポイント

  • Your Honour — Treat Your Honour as one polite unit, with no fresh breath in the middle.
  • the pa-a-a-a-alm of — Hold the stretched vowel, then land softly on of.
  • not careful, not afraid — Let the repeated nots run as one slope, without a stop on each.
He doesn't quite know that I've won a point, but he feels the shift, likes it.

Her client senses the win without understanding the legal point. The mood has moved, and he likes it.

My client hates the witness, but for me, the witness is just the witness.

She keeps it impersonal: the witness is only a witness to her, while her client hates him.

Let the witness talk, over talk. Let him 'clarify'. Good.

She wants him past a careful answer, dressing the extra words as clarification. The surplus is the point.

'This one must be straight out of uni or something. She's not that good.'

The dismissal she is fishing for: young, just out of university, not a threat. His confidence is her bait.

Nodding. I'm nodding, while he digs himself in deeper.

She looks helpful and keeps nodding. His attempt to explain only worsens the inconsistency.

このシーンについての質問

Why does she pretend to lose her way during cross-examination?

She wants him relaxed and careless. She flicks through pages so he will "think I have lost my way," lets him "over talk" and "clarify," and waits until he is "no longer vigilant." Then he "says something inconsistent" and "digs himself in deeper."

Why does she order herself to play it cool?

The courtroom is "charged," and she feels "the thrill of this" once the application is granted. "Play it cool" keeps that excitement out of her voice. She still wants the moment "in the pa-a-a-a-alm of your hand," not already won.

Why does she call the prosecution's snicker very good?

She has been acting lost, flicking pages until the other side laughs. "A snicker from the prosecution counsel" means the act is working, so her answer is "Good. Good. Very good." Her client shifting uncomfortably in the dock gets the same "Good," because worry on her side relaxes the witness.

Is she really not that good, as the witness decides?

No. "She's not that good" and "straight out of uni" are the opinion she wants him to hold. She has already "won a point," the judge has "seen the likes of me," and she calls this "the best part. All instinct." The upper hand he feels is the one she gave him.

Why does the prosecutor touch his forehead?

She lets him explain the slip, says "that's a bit clearer now, but...", and he "volunteers more information." She then sees the prosecutor "put a finger to his own forehead," the look of a lawyer whose witness will not stop.

ナショナル・シアター・ライブ2022／プライマ・フェイシィ · 全 22 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 2 章blood in the waterEnsler Corners the Witness
再生中 · 第 1 章play it coolEnsler Lets the Witness Talk第 2 章blood in the waterEnsler Corners the Witness第 3 章What's new?Tessa Comes Home After the Win第 4 章crème de la crèmeThe Dean's Induction Warning第 5 章manoeuvred his way aroundEveryone Is Watching at the Party第 6 章ethical tightropeSophie Walks the Tightrope第 7 章burn the midnight oilAfter Hours in Chambers第 8 章get under their skinTessa Baiting the Sergeant第 9 章her word against hisJenna's Word on Trial第 10 章justify the costTessa's Date Ends in Vomit第 11 章legal truthTessa Asks for the Police Station第 12 章no armourTessa Enters Court Without Armour第 13 章get someone offsideTessa's Police Interview第 14 章in the hands ofTessa Agrees to Testify第 15 章psyche myself upTessa Is the One on Trial第 16 章go through with thisUp to the Witness Stand第 17 章put it down toTessa Runs into Julian第 18 章cross-examining myselfCross-Examining Herself in Court第 19 章in the darkWitness Faces the Cross-Examination第 20 章fall for itTessa Remembers on the Stand第 21 章news to meTessa Loses Faith in the Law第 22 章litmus testWitness Calls Out the Rape Law
第 1 / 22 章 · 残り約 73 分